Over the last two weeks I’ve been able to spend five days along the Great Ocean Road. My first weekend, I headed out to Artillery Rocks, which is 12 kilometres outside of Lorne. The evening and morning shoots turned out to be a non-event due to continuous rain and dull cloudy weather. I’m ok with cloudy skies, but they need to have strong form and good contrast for me to get my camera out of the bag.
The Weather Bureau had been forecasting ‘possible storms’ for the area of Port Campbell, which is always a good to time to be out shooting, so I made my way to Port Campbell amidst more cloudy grey skies and light scattered showers, hoping the storm would pass early enough to catch some action whilst out photographing.
The evening shoot went well with the clouds lifting for a short time and the setting sun producing relatively good colour and light.
My energy was on high as I worked frantically to capture the rapid water movement as the high tide made its way into the shore. This is the time when I zone out from everything around me, totally absorbed in ‘the moment’, and all the elements start to gel together; locked in the zone.
I was out taking photos with another photographer named Greg, whom I had met shown the location where I was shooting, so he joined me. After our shoot he mentioned that for the first 15 minutes he had been feeding off my energy. Such is the case when I’m out there – my instincts take over, guiding me and my photography.

The passing storm and lightning arrived well after my shoot (11pm), while the next morning produced more cloud and light rain, however I still managed to shoot a few frames down at Gibsons Beach.

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The second weekend away, which I have recently returned from, was over at Port Campbell. Three days of constant cloud, wind and driving rains (again) meant that my camera was kept dry in its bag most of the time. With my frustration mounting and fears growing that I may never see the sun again, 30 minutes before sunset on my last evening shoot the clouds decided to be a little accommodating.
I fell to my knees and cried for joy (only kidding, l didn’t really fall to my knees) I grabbed my gear and headed for the ocean, crying out like a madman. When you’re out photographing the Great Ocean Road, more often than not you’re dealing with grey skies. I’ve had a lot of disappointing outcomes over the years, but I keep going back.
Darren J.
